Saturday, December 27, 2014

Still in Cincinnati, still having a wonderful time. Today we ventured out to Jungle Jim's and let the kids stay up late for our traditional root beer tasting festivities. Such fun!

Now that the house is finally quiet, I thought I'd take a moment to share some more photos from the Wilhoit visit. As you can imagine, most of our attention was focused around Eila. Isn't she precious? Like most babes, she occasionally mixes up her nights and days.

Zoe was next in line to steal the show. While all the children (and adults) were delighted to have her close, Annika was most enthralled.

Annie also loved making sugar cookies with Aunt Callie. She figured out pretty quickly that the best part is snitching the dough.

With babies on the brain, we ventured out to the Henry Doorly Zoo to see the baby giraffe...

...and the baby orangutan.

Of course, Eila was sweetest. Right, Talia Lily?

Even if she does wear uncles out...

Our next stop was the Lauritzen Botanical Gardens. Here are Callie and Adam in the new conservatory.

Oops, I forgot to mention that Eila's hanging out behind that cute blanket.

Moving on, Annika garnered all sorts of compliments as she toddled around in her red Rothschild coat.

I know I'm biased, but she really is cute.

It's quite possible that the adornment of the totems moved beyond festive into the realm of absurdity or even irreverence

Even so, I'm glad someone was brave enough to do it. :)

Meanwhile, the main exhibition hall was likewise transformed for the holidays. Here are the Wilhoits next to the poinsettia tree.

Perhaps thi dwarf-sized tree would be more appropriate.

My favorite part of the display was all of the trains running through these models of Omaha's most well-known buildings.

Eli was positively mesmerized. He would have gladly watched for hours had time permitted.

If you come visit us in Omaha next Christmas, we'll be glad to show you in person.

The holiday display was so lovely that we decided to come back the next day to shoot a photo for our Christmas card. Here are a few pictures that didn't make the final cut.

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a delightful holiday with family and friends. Ours has been lovely. I'll share more later, but we drove to Cincinnati where we are spending the week with Jason's parents and siblings. Such fun!

We just finished a delicious ham dinner and the house is relatively quiet as the kids play with Legos. I thought I'd seize the moments to post some photos from earlier in December when Callie, Adam, Eila, and Zoe all flew out from Washington for a visit. After all, what better way to spend Christmas than contemplating a beautiful new babe.

Brooklyn and Baby Eila. I think Callie and Adam are superheroes, braving the flight with both a newborn and a pug.

Eli, Talia, Zoe, and Annie Mae

Eli loves the pug kisses!

Papa Kay reads Eli a story from his favorite chair.

Talia is always happiest with a puppy in her arms.

Annika, Brooklyn, and Zoe--all color-coordinated.

Hey, I never even noticed that even Jason's socks keep up the black and red color scheme! Here's Jason, Talia, and the sweetest niece.

The Wilhoits arrived late in the afternoon on Sunday, December 7th. Eila Kay was blessed by her Papa Kay in the Andrus home later that evening. There is something so special and intimate about a baby blessing at home, especially since this is the home Callie grew up in. Doesn't seem like that long ago when Eli was blessed in the very same place.

Adam, Callie, and their baby girl.

Eila wore the blessing dress that NomiAnn made ten years ago for Brooklyn. At the time, I'm sure she never imagined that it would grace four granddaughters (and counting.)

Three generations of love. From left to right: Cathy Ann, Callie Helene, Adam Fenn, Kay LeGrand, with baby Eila Kay.

Adam slips out of the frame for this picture. Papa K looks a bit forlorn to be left as the lone man.

NomiAnn and Papa Kay with all of their grandkids. Eli says, oh no! Too many girls!

Aunt Kara, Uncle Jason, and Cousin Talia are sure smitten with Eila.

Brooklyn is a fantastic little mama. She really has a remarkable gift with babes. Our only complaint is that she finds it hard to share. :)

One final picture of the cousins. Such a lovely day!

And now, time to check back in with today's family. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

The rest of the spread joins our buffet table. Yummy! Now can anyone tell me how to keep it all piping hot?

Bon appetit!

Eli's certainly enjoying his food!

Papa K amazed us all by contributing an enormous frog eye salad. Let's just say that no one went hungry! And may I also add that my kids were still sad when the leftovers were all gone because they liked it so much.

Talia organized our after-dinner table conversation by making these THANKS poems out yarn where we wrote things that helped us feel grateful.

Out of all the thanksgiving thanks, Papa K received the most enthusiastic cheers of gratitude when he announced that he would be taking the whole lot of us to Legoland in Kansas City the next morning. I don't know who was more excited, Jason or the kids.

Annika climbs in a Lego truck outside before we head in.

Looks like Talia needs some rescue!

I'm 128 duplos tall. How about you?

This Lego jester looks a bit scared, don't you think?

Only Jason noticed how the figurine was so frightened that he wet his pants!

Papa K missed NomiAnn so much that he ran off with another gal.

Talia, on the other hand, ran off with a scuba diver.

The Kansas City models were absolutely incredible!

Anybody interested in a career as a master builder?

This guy sure wouldn't complain. He was in absolute heaven with such an enormous lego pit at his fingertips. (Eli liked it too.)

Well done, master architect!

Papa Kay, thanks so much for the lovely trip to Legoland! We sure are grateful for you--not just on Thanksgiving, but all year round.